Colombo International Container Terminals Ltd., (CICT) is a joint venture Company between China Merchants Holdings (International) Co., Ltd. (CMHI), a listed blue chip Company in the Hong Kong stock exchange, and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA). It is developing the 2.4 million teus capacity Colombo South Container Terminal in the Port of Colombo, under a 35 year build, operate, and transfer agreement with the SLPA. The largest shareholder of this company is CMHI with 85% ownership and the balance 15% being held by SLPA. CICT commenced construction works of the terminal in December 2011. With an envisaged investment of US$ 500 million, including the installation of the latest state of the art terminal equipment, it is so far the single largest foreign direct investment in Sri Lanka by a private entity. The Port of Colombo with a current capacity of over 4 million teus, has embarked on a large infrastructure development programme to increase the total capacity of the Port of Colombo by another 7.2 million teus in three separate phases. The Colombo South Harbour Development which consists of three independent dedicated container terminals will create this additional capacity in three different phases of 2.4 million teus in each phase. CICT will be the first terminal to come on stream in the Colombo South Harbour project. The construction is scheduled to be completed in three stages with the first stage scheduled to go into operation in July 2013, and full completion planned for April 2014.